At first glance if I were to have you go look through your collection of Christmas DVDs you’ve collected, you may not immediately think of this movie – it may not be on your list of ‘the usual suspects’.
Today I was inspired (more on that later) to be reminded of the classic Christmas comedy from 1955 of “We’re No Angels” starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray.
And how does this tie into letter writing you may be wondering – well the movie plot kicks off with the arrival of a letter at the beginning of the movie and what it sets into motion with the pending arrival of unexpected guests.
The movie takes place on Devil’s Island beginning on the day of Christmas Eve 1895 and spans to the next day – Christmas Day. This is a Christmas classic (and is one of Humphrey Bogart’s rare comedies) that I really think you’ll enjoy watching (or re-watching) this Holiday Season. Back in college I recall being home for the Holidays and we would watch this movie on TV with my family, with expressions picked up from the movie and making its way into our vocabulary.
From Wikipedia the Plot begins with:
“Three convicts – Joseph, Albert and Jules – escape from prison on Devil’s Island just before Christmas and arrive at a nearby French colonial town. They go to a store managed by the Ducotel family, the only one to give supplies on credit. While there, they notice its roof is leaking, and offer to fix it. They do not actually intend to, but decide to remain there until nightfall, when they will steal clothes and supplies and escape on a ship waiting in the harbor. As they wait, they find that the small family of Felix, Amelie, and daughter Isabelle, is in financial distress and offer their services to hide the trio’s all-too-sinister ruse. Joseph even gets to work conning people and falsifying records to make the store prosperous. However, the three felons begin to have a change of heart after they fix a delicious Christmas dinner for the Ducotels made mostly of stolen items. …”
When you see the movie you’ll love the scene with Humphrey Bogart who is ‘quite a salesman’ selling a suit to a gentleman not his size and still manages to close the sale – they do show a quick glimpse of the scene in the movie trailer.
Here is a Trailer of “We’re No Angels (1955)”
There is one scene in which Humphrey Bogart sells a silver comb & brush set to a gentleman who does not have a lot of hair on his head.
If you haven’t seen the movie I really don’t want to give away the ending – so here is a spoiler alert though if you read any further.
My inspiration today was in taking delivery of all five of the embroidery quilt squares for Cuddy’s quilt I found myself looking at an embroidery of Cuddy’s signature of it including a halo over his paw print! Wishing you a joyous Saturday on this weekend.
Anchors Aweigh,
Helen
Attribution & Thank you to the following who are referenced today —
Image shown upper left of U.S. stamp – Christmas Angel holding a trumpet, 1965, Scott 1276 as shown at Mystic Stamp Company
Image above of Gloria Talbott and cinematographer Loyal Griggs on the set of We’re No Angels (1955) – publicity still. By unknown (Paramount Pictures) (http://acertaincinema.com/media-tags/loyal-griggs/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Excerpt from Wikipedia on Plot of We’re No Angels (1955 film)
YouTube We’re No Angels (1955) – Trailer posted by ParamountmoviesDigital
YouTube We’re No Angels (4/9) Movie CLIP – A Gifted Salesman (1955) HD posted by Movieclips
AnchoredScraps.com image above from Cuddy’s Quilt in progress, photo taken today December 05, 2015 by Helen Rittersporn
